Susan A. Higgins, MD
Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive SciencesCards
About
Titles
Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Vice Chair for Wellness and Engagement, Therapeutic Radiology; Medical Director for Radiation Oncology at Shoreline Medical Center, Yale New Haven Hospital, Therapeutic Radiology
Appointments
Therapeutic Radiology
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Resident
- Yale University (1992)
- Intern
- St. Mary’s Hospital, University of Rochester (1991)
- MD
- University of Rochester (1990)
Research
Publications
2024
A single arm phase 2 clinical trial of YIV-906 with neoadjuvant concurrent chemo-radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer
Verma N, Johung K, Kortmansky J, Zaheer W, Lacy J, Cecchini M, Stein S, Cheng Y, Lam W, Liu S, Reddy V, Hochster H, Higgins S. A single arm phase 2 clinical trial of YIV-906 with neoadjuvant concurrent chemo-radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Journal Of Gastrointestinal Oncology 2024, 15: 1050-1059. PMID: 38989411, PMCID: PMC11231844, DOI: 10.21037/jgo-24-23.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2015
Multi-Institutional Implementation and Evaluation of a Curriculum for the Medical Student Clerkship in Radiation Oncology
Group R, Golden D, Braunstein S, Jimenez R, Mohindra P, Spektor A, Ye J, Members R, Bradley K, Chmura S, Currey A, Das P, Du K, Haas-Kogan D, Howard A, Higgins S, Hung A, Kharofa J, Krishnan M, MacDonald S, Mancini B, Parashar B, Thaker N, Thomas C, Viswanathan A, Wheatley M. Multi-Institutional Implementation and Evaluation of a Curriculum for the Medical Student Clerkship in Radiation Oncology. Journal Of The American College Of Radiology 2015, 13: 203-209. PMID: 26410347, PMCID: PMC4744090, DOI: 10.1016/j.jacr.2015.06.036.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsRadiation oncology residentsRadiation oncologyAcademic medical centerOncology residentsMedical CenterMedical student clerkshipCurriculum developmentStandard curriculumInterquartile rangeResponse rateNational standardized curriculumStudent clerkshipOncologySurvey response rateMulti-institutional implementationPlanning workshopCurricular contentAcademic yearClerkship curriculumRadiationStudent ratingsLikert-type scaleCurriculumStudentsResearch modelMedical Student Perspectives on a Multi-institutional Clerkship Curriculum: A Report From the Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group
Ye JC, Mohindra P, Spektor A, Krishnan MS, Chmura SJ, Howard AR, Viswanathan AN, MacDonald SM, Thaker NG, Das P, Mancini BR, Higgins SA, Braunstein S, Haas-Kogan D, Bradley KA, Hung AY, Thomas CR, Kharofa J, Wheatley M, Currey A, Parashar B, Du K, Jimenez RB, Golden DW. Medical Student Perspectives on a Multi-institutional Clerkship Curriculum: A Report From the Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group. International Journal Of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics 2015, 92: 217-219. PMID: 25968822, PMCID: PMC4768460, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2015.01.043.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPredictors of vaginal stenosis after intravaginal high-dose-rate brachytherapy for endometrial carcinoma
Park HS, Ratner ES, Lucarelli L, Polizzi S, Higgins SA, Damast S. Predictors of vaginal stenosis after intravaginal high-dose-rate brachytherapy for endometrial carcinoma. Brachytherapy 2015, 14: 464-470. PMID: 25887343, DOI: 10.1016/j.brachy.2015.03.001.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsVaginal stenosisDilator useIndependent predictorsEndometrial carcinomaTotal doseRate brachytherapyMultivariable logistic regression analysisExternal beam radiation therapyCommon Terminology CriteriaEffective adjuvant treatmentMonths of followupPost-treatment factorsBeam radiation therapyHigher total doseLogistic regression analysisTerminology CriteriaAdjuvant treatmentFollowup visitMean followupAdverse eventsLast followupMultivariable analysisRisk factorsRadiation therapyPatientsAdjuvant Carboplatin, Paclitaxel, and Vaginal Cuff Brachytherapy for Stage III Endometrial Cancer Analysis of Outcomes and Patterns of Recurrence Based on Pathologic Characteristics
Young MR, Higgins SA, Ratner E, Yu JB, Mani S, Silasi DA, Azodi M, Rutherford T, Schwartz PE, Damast S. Adjuvant Carboplatin, Paclitaxel, and Vaginal Cuff Brachytherapy for Stage III Endometrial Cancer Analysis of Outcomes and Patterns of Recurrence Based on Pathologic Characteristics. International Journal Of Gynecological Cancer 2015, 25: 431-439. PMID: 25621409, PMCID: PMC5603450, DOI: 10.1097/igc.0000000000000376.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsAdenocarcinomaAgedAntineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsBrachytherapyCarboplatinChemoradiotherapy, AdjuvantDisease-Free SurvivalEndometrial NeoplasmsFemaleHumansHysterectomyLymph NodesLymphatic MetastasisMiddle AgedNeoplasm Recurrence, LocalNeoplasm StagingPaclitaxelRetrospective StudiesSurvival RateTreatment FailureConceptsDisease-free survivalVaginal cuff brachytherapyStage III endometrial adenocarcinomaStage III endometrial cancerNode-negative diseaseOverall survivalAdjuvant chemotherapyEndometrial cancerEndometrial adenocarcinomaType IComprehensive surgical stagingLow-risk histologyNode-positive diseaseOutcomes of patientsHigh-risk histologyNode-positive ratePatterns of recurrenceAnalysis of outcomesType II diseaseAdjuvant carboplatinVaginal failuresSurgical stagingAdjuvant therapyNode negativeNode positiveHigh-dose-rate vaginal brachytherapy with chemotherapy for surgically staged localized uterine serous carcinoma
Damast S, Higgins SA, Ratner E, De Leon MC, Mani S, Silasi DA, Azodi M, Santin A, Rutherford T, Schwartz PE. High-dose-rate vaginal brachytherapy with chemotherapy for surgically staged localized uterine serous carcinoma. Journal Of Contemporary Brachytherapy 2015, 7: 35-40. PMID: 25829935, PMCID: PMC4371058, DOI: 10.5114/jcb.2015.48539.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchRecurrence-free survivalUterine serous carcinomaComprehensive surgical stagingOverall survivalSurgical stagingSerous carcinomaPara-aortic lymph node dissectionFIGO 2009 stage ICarboplatin-paclitaxel chemotherapyInstitutional chart reviewIsolated vaginal recurrencesSimultaneous lung metastasisLymph node dissectionPelvic control rateKaplan-Meier methodRate vaginal brachytherapyCases of recurrenceMedian followNode dissectionPeritoneal cytologyVaginal brachytherapyVaginal recurrenceTotal hysterectomyChart reviewBrachytherapy dose
2014
Phase I Clinical Trial of the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitor Everolimus in Combination With Oral Topotecan for Recurrent and Advanced Endometrial Cancer
Acevedo-Gadea C, Santin AD, Higgins SA, Urva S, Ratner E, Silasi DA, Azodi M, Rutherford T, Schwartz PE, Abu-Khalaf MM. Phase I Clinical Trial of the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitor Everolimus in Combination With Oral Topotecan for Recurrent and Advanced Endometrial Cancer. International Journal Of Gynecological Cancer 2014, 24: 528-533. PMID: 24557436, DOI: 10.1097/igc.0000000000000085.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsOral topotecanEndometrial cancerDay 1Pelvic external beam radiation therapyMammalian targetExternal beam radiation therapyPhase I clinical trialRecurrent endometrial cancerAdvanced endometrial cancerDose-limiting toxicityEfficacy of topotecanRapamycin inhibitor everolimusBeam radiation therapyOral everolimusStable diseaseVaginal brachytherapyMedian ageRapamycin inhibitorsInhibitor everolimusPreclinical dataClinical trialsMedian numberPharmacokinetic assessmentRadiation therapyEverolimusBasal Subtype, as Approximated by Triple-Negative Phenotype, is Associated with Locoregional Recurrence in a Case–Control Study of Women with 0–3 Positive Lymph Nodes After Mastectomy
Khan AJ, Milgrom SA, Barnard N, Higgins SA, Moran M, Shahzad H, Kim S, Goyal S, Al-Faraj F, Kirstein L, Kearney T, Haffty BG. Basal Subtype, as Approximated by Triple-Negative Phenotype, is Associated with Locoregional Recurrence in a Case–Control Study of Women with 0–3 Positive Lymph Nodes After Mastectomy. Annals Of Surgical Oncology 2014, 21: 1963-1968. PMID: 24562930, PMCID: PMC5723128, DOI: 10.1245/s10434-014-3512-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPositive lymph nodesPostmastectomy RTTriple-negative phenotypeLymph nodesBasal subtypeHigher LRROdds ratioResultsOn univariate analysisEvidence of diseaseUse of chemotherapyCase-control studyCohort of womenConditional logistic regressionParaffin-embedded tissue blocksLocoregional recurrencePositive nodesBiologic subtypeUnivariate analysisTN phenotypeER-PRConclusionsOur dataMastectomy specimenTissue microarrayLower oddsMastectomy
2013
Breast conservation therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): does presentation of disease affect long-term outcomes?
Bai HX, Motwani SB, Higgins SA, Haffty BG, Wilson LD, Lannin DR, Evans SB, Moran MS. Breast conservation therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): does presentation of disease affect long-term outcomes? International Journal Of Clinical Oncology 2013, 19: 460-466. PMID: 23780727, DOI: 10.1007/s10147-013-0575-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsBreast conservation treatmentLocal relapse-free survivalRelapse-free survivalSigns/symptomsLong-term outcomesDCIS patientsPhysical signs/symptomsTumor sizeER/PR/HERWorse long-term prognosisSignificant overall survival differenceAdjuvant hormone treatmentLong-term prognosisOverall survival differenceBreast conservation therapyLarger tumor sizeStatus of marginsNon-white racePresentation of diseaseMedian followClinicopathological differencesNodal involvementOverall survivalIndependent predictorsConservation therapy
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Parallel Phase III Randomized Trials for High Risk Prostate Cancer Evaluating De-Intensification for Lower Genomic Risk and Intensification of Concurrent Therapy for Higher Genomic Risk With Radiation (PREDICT-RT*)
HIC ID2000032279RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date12/31/2033Recruiting Participants
Clinical Care
Overview
Clinical Specialties
Therapeutic Radiology; Breast Cancer Radiotherapy
Fact Sheets
Radiation Therapy
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News & Links
News
- October 31, 2024
Smilow Shares Breast Cancer Awareness: Empowered through Knowledge, Smilow at Guilford
- August 09, 2024
Botanical Medicine Reduces Rectal Cancer Treatment Side Effects That Can Sideline Surgeries
- January 29, 2024
Comprehensive Breast Cancer Care at Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven
- August 24, 2023
Linda: Gastrointestinal Cancer Survivor
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Locations
Yale Therapeutic Radiology
Academic Office
Hunter Building
15 York Street, Ste HRT 131
New Haven, CT 06510
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